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Developer Diary: Epic Battles – The Multi-Usage System

Developer Diary: Epic Battles – The Multi-Usage System

By JWBarry

One of the areas of gameplay we looked at was the interactives. How did you interact with them, how did that interaction change the space and the environment, what choices and decisions were presented to you, and how did multiple people interact together, with the same or different options? The answers to those questions were, one click, not really at all, none, can’t, and nope.

Most existing interactives have a single action that is automatically performed when you click on it, after you complete an induction. If two people click on the object they both do their own actions independently of each other. The change would be either something purely visual (set on fire), on your client only, or to make an enemy spawn, presuming there was a change at all.

We wanted to do a lot more with what could be used during the space, how it could be used, who it could be used by, and what using things together meant. The Multi-usage system (internally code named Steve for unknown reasons) was born. In this case, Multi carries several meanings, multiple actions, multiple people, and multiple contributors.

Upon using an interactive you’re presented immediately with multiple actions you can perform. Load, Crank, Aim, Build, Repair, Extinguish, Upgrade, and Fire on the catapult.

If a friend selects the catapult they are presented with the same UI and can see whatever action you’re currently progressing on. They can then either perform that action and aid you in making it go faster, or perform a different one. I can aim while you crank, or we can both load it together and make it go faster.

This opens up a great deal of tactical options and ways you can work together to accomplish a goal.

Enemy Targetting

Within a classic instance the only goal of the enemy is to kill the players, and the only goal of the players is to kill the enemy. Within Helm’s Deep, that does not hold as strictly true. Instead, the primary goal of the enemy is to destroy the fortress and to slaughter every man, woman, and child within. They are soldiers, they have been trained as an army, and they are led by commanders with a leadership structure. They have been given orders and they will follow them.

The majority of monsters within Helm’s Deep do not utilize the threat model for how they select targets. Instead, we’re using a weighted target evaluation system. Each monster has a list of attributes that define him, melee, commander, secondary, siege, berserker, etc. Each monster then has a table that assigns a point value to each attribute. Upon selecting a target, he looks around at nearby enemies, tabulates their totals, adding or subtracting points for distance and if they’re already in combat. The highest value enemy will be selected and engaged. Upon defeating his target, the monster will look around again, with no recollection of who is around or who has done what, and pick a new target based on what is the most valuable according to his profile.

This means you will see sappers bypass the line and run straight for banners, doors, or catapults. You will see enemy commanders face off with yours. You’ll see berserkers focus on targets who are already in combat, while warriors prefer to select new ones. You’ll see Rohirrim prioritize enemies who are almost dead over ones at full health. Some enemies within side objectives will focus on attacking you before the Rohirrim. Classes that are in tank specialization lines will come with a higher priority to make enemies select them more often. Force taunts will still pull an enemy off his target and make him focus on you. Some select bosses and enemies will also still utilize threat for their targeting selection.